Iron Brigade Sends You to Mars in New DLC Pack

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Now with bears.

By Steven Hopper

Iron Brigade (nee Trenched) and its quirky blend of action and tower defense has been lighting up Xbox LIVE Arcade since this past summer. Now, the game is getting its very own chunk of DLC. Titled "Rise of the Martian Bear," this new bit of downloadable content adds in four new missions, a new Martian setting, and some bizarre story elements that fans of Double Fine will be undoubtedly looking forward to.

Prior to meeting his demise, Vlad, the villain from the base game, transferred his consciousness to his pet bear. As though following the sagacious advice of Doug Quaid from Total Recall, this Vlad/Bear amalgam managed to get his ass to Mars, rebuilding his army and eviling up the place with Monovision's brand of reality TV rubbish.

Go ahead. Mech my day.

What we played at Double Fine's studio included more of the base game's quirky-yet-addictive 4-player action, albeit even crazier. The environments on display included full-scale battles on the surface of Mars, with four mechs battling it out next to distinctly Russian looking buildings resembling the familiar onion domes associated with Russian culture.

Additionally, Russian-style propaganda pieces outline presentation, and the taunts that you'll get from your foes (at one point a giant mustachioed boss bellowed, "The broadcast is my moustache"...take that how you will) are extremely funny and in line with Iron Brigade's original sense of humor.

The new DLC doesn't have an official release date quite yet, but Double Fine assures us that it will be available soon. So if you're a fan of Iron Brigade and are looking to extend your experience, you don't have much longer to wait.